Iraq Conspiracy? Late for Tea at the Deer Palace July 14, 2011
Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s dramatic raid of the Trade Bank of Iraq on June 2 and the flight abroad of its director remains unresolved. While raising wide attention in political circles as TBI became a set piece in a fight between Maliki and Ahmad Chalabi, the abrupt change of management in the country’s premier financial institution also raises questions about broader issues of corruption and transparency.
On June 2, Iraqi security raided Iraq’s preeminent bank in what the government alleged was a move against corruption. Corruption is ubiquitous in Iraq, but what made the raid unusual is that Maliki carried it out in person. TBI’s director, Hussein al-Uzri, quickly fled to Lebanon.
While basic facts and Uzri’s countercharges against Maliki have been reported in international media, most fail to mention the possible link between Maliki’s raid and his fight with Uzri’s famous uncle, Ahmad Chalabi
The Uzri-TBI scandal and Uzri’s flight in the context of Maliki’s most recent attack in a months-long rift with Chalabi – Maliki’s Shia rivals had put forward Chalabi as a candidate for interior minister, but only as a spoiler. Then Chalabi moved to grab headlines by organizing a “relief ship” for Bahraini Shia – whose cause Maliki had himself championed – and Maliki blocked it on June 3 – just one day after the TBI raid. Then on June 8, Maliki issued an order removing Chalabi as head of the debaathification commission, a move he probably lacks the authority to make, but which is unlikely to face legal challenge all the same.
Chalabi responded vociferously, alleging that Maliki was ignoring other corruption cases and had a political vendetta, while Maliki allies – including his Chief-of-Staff Ali Allaq – have publicly alleged massive theft by Uzri. Since then additional facts have come to light, or least been alleged.
According to Uzri, Maliki came to the bank at first like it was a business meeting to ask for $6 billion in financing for deals he had signed with a Korean company to build power generators. Only when Uzri demanded a government guarantee did Maliki begin making allegations. Maliki demanded a meeting with the full management, but seeing the heavy security presence, Uzri decided to slip away, although he wouldn’t say how he got out of the country.
Additionally, according to reports published on a number of Iraqi newsites, Uzri hid for two days in Baghdad before traveling to Irbil and from there to Beirut, where his wife and children have been living. In this regard remember Chalabi’s long relationship with Kurdish leadership going back into the 1990s. In addition to loans for the Korean projects, al-Jeeran claims sources say that Maliki also demanded commercial contracts for some of his allies. The same also quoted government sources as saying that while they were aware of Uzri’s “political relationship” with Chalabi, they were unaware the two were related. If this is an accurate representation, the claim is not credible.
Expanding on Uzri’s claims, the Iraqi writer Sabah al-Baghdadi has made broader allegations about tie-ins to electricity and housing deals, claiming that Maliki’s actions violate legal rules on project financing.Although Uzri does not appear to have much support in parliament, whether due to belief in his culpability or just for being Chalabi’s nephew, some MPs have asked how Uzri could have been allowed to get away given previous flight cases. Most prominently, former interior minister and member of the Transparency Committee Jawad al-Bolani hit out at Maliki on June 20, complaining that they still didn’t know what had happened. At the same time the committee questioned Finance Minister Rafia al-Isawi, but he claimed to have no authority over the matter. Maliki had announced an official investigation on June 2, but it hasn’t released any information yet. Moving forward, Maliki has appointed Hamida al-Jaf, a finance ministry functionary, as the new director.
In mid-June, Sir Claude Hankes, a British banker who has served as a long-time advisor to TBI, spoke out and wrote an open letter to President Talabani warning that Maliki’s raid was pure politics and that it threatened Iraq’s banking system. So assuming the truth of the claim that Maliki simply wanted control of the bank, this might explain the fact that Uzri was allowed to escape, and the fact that the warrant for his arrest was not issued until he had arrived in Lebanon. If Maliki had arrested him, Uzri is too famous to have him simply disappear; there would have to be a trial.
Open letter from Sir Claude Hankes KCVO to the President of Iraq and Members of Parliament ...
Iraq's Chalabi takes on Bahrain, loses first round
Happy Birthday, Your Majesty ... TBI ...
